6 common reasons why people are not buying your creations and how to fix the problems

Paying customers are the lifeline of any business, without them you’re simply running a hobby. Every entrepreneur dreams of creating a successful and profitable business, but for many getting those first customers through the door or getting them to click the buy button can be challenging. People buy from people they know, like and trust. Business owners have to work at building that awareness and trust, keeping in mind that their product is not for everyone. The problem though, is when nothing at all is happening on the sales front leaving you frustrated, wondering why people are not buying your creations and how you can fix it.

To know what to fix you need to know what the problem or problems are. This post highlights 6 common reasons why people are not buying your creations:

1. They don’t know you exist

What this says, you are not reaching your right audience. This raises an important question every business owner should be able to say yes to, ‘Do you know who your customers are?’ If your answer is no, then you need to get clear on this before doing anything else with your business. Because, how can you sell your creations if you don’t know who you are selling them to?

How to Fix:

Before selling your work research your target customers getting to know who they are, their needs and how your product benefits them.

2. You created a product you thought your audience would like not one they actually want

What this says, you’re not listening to them. Going back to the first point if you don’t know your customers how can you make sure your product meets their needs? Part of product development means taking onboard customer feedback to make your product better. The customer-buyer relationship is a partnership, one that will require flexibility on your part to meet your customers’ needs. Not listening to your customers means they will simply spend their money with someone who does.

How to Fix:

Reach out to your customers to find out what their needs are or ask them face-to-face. When you are developing your product get a few customers involved in the process to help you make it better.

3. You haven’t given them a good enough reason to buy your creations

What this says, you are not standing out from the competition. Your messaging is not having an impact. It doesn’t tell your customer why your product is different, special, or unique. If you have created a product that meets their needs, are you offering it to them in a way that makes them sit up and take notice and think ‘I have to have that.’? Most likely, your customer cannot picture themselves with your product in their lives. This means you haven’t made that all-important emotional connection, so your product is getting lost in the crowd.

How to Fix:

Create copy and visuals that mirror what your customers are asking for. Your copy should include the questions they are using and provide the solution. Your visuals should be aspirational in showing how your product will change their lives, make them look, feel and so forth.

4. Your work is too cheap or too expensive

What this says, your pricing is wrong. Pricing reflects the value of your work and is a balance between what you’ve put into creating it and what the customer is willing to pay. Pricing your creations too low can raise questions about the quality of your product, turning away customers who want something better. Pricing your work too high can turn away customers who see it as not worth the high price tag when compared to similar work.

How to Fix:

Work on getting your pricing right by factoring in all the elements from materials, to your time, to what the market supports for work like yours.

5. You haven’t told them what to do when they interact with your brand

What this says, you don’t have a clear and compelling call to action. This can be: buy buttons that are not immediately visible or the absence of a call to action telling them what they need to do next. People don’t want to spend too much time figuring out what to do to purchase from you. If they start to think it’s getting complicated they will simply abandon the process and look somewhere else.

How to Fix:

Depending on what platform you are using for sales the key thing is to make sure your design is simple. If it’s a website, your navigation needs to be streamlined. If it’s social media say, Instagram the buy tag and an appropriate caption lets people know your product is for sale and where to get it.

6. They only hear from you when you have something to sell

What this says, you haven’t taken the time to build a relationship. That all-important emotional connection is missing. And you come across as not being interested in them, all you’re after is their money.

How to Fix:

Engage with your customers regularly so that they get used to hearing from you. You can do this through a regular newsletter, blog posts, social media comments, and meeting them at events.

The suggested fixes can transform your sales. But to make long-lasting solutions you need to address the root cause, one very important thing, which all these common reasons highlight. You have a communications problem be it written, visual or audio. This issue is usually the result of not taking the time to plan, implement and deliver a proper brand visibility strategy.

One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when it comes to branding their business is to head straight for a logo and some visual identity elements without stopping to think about what their brand actually means and how it will connect them to their right customers.

If you are in the first few months of your business, you are probably still figuring things out, but six months, a year in you should have an idea of what your brand stands for. In other words, the story and purpose behind your brand, why you do what you do. It is this that your customers will connect to, identify with, and eventually come to trust. If you’re ready to improve your brand awareness our signature self-study course, Build a High-End Craft Brand, can help.

We hope you’ve found this post useful, and would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any questions or comments do post them below.

– The Wonderfully Well Made Team

[Image credits: The image shown belongs to PNW Production via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere please credit accordingly.]